Thanks for the support at our Year-End Celebration & Fundraiser!

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Thanks to all who attended and/or supported our Year-End Celebration & Fundraiser!

We’re feeling extremely grateful following our event this past Tuesday evening, where you helped us raise $5,284 for old-growth protection through donations, the silent auction, and merchandise sales! We hope you enjoyed the engaging presentations, food, drinks, and socializing with other old-growth fans.

As always, meeting and having conversations with many of you in person is a great reminder of what a dedicated, passionate, and kind community we have standing with us. We couldn’t have achieved all the latest success without you!

A special shoutout goes to the local businesses and individuals who kindly donated items to our silent auction. Thank you to: Jordan Fritz Art, Botanical Bliss, Fish Hair Salon, Handsome Dans Port Renfrew, Pilgrim Coffee House, Lorelei Green Art, Timothy Colman, Zula Jewelry, The Papery, Smoking Lily Handcrafted Goods, Seaflora Skincare, Spinnacle Yarns, Russell Books, Wild Coast Perfumery, Richard Malacek, Robinson’s Outdoors, Patagonia Victoria, Ecologyst, Bolen Books, and Barbara Brown Art.

Your support this season will make a huge difference and will ensure we’re able to hit the ground running come 2024.

For the forests,
The Ancient Forest Alliance team

 

The Globe & Mail: ‘Salmon parks’ in traditional First Nations territory aim to save habitats by stopping old-growth logging

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November 29, 2023
The Globe and Mail
By Justine Hunter

See the original article.

New plan from the Mowachaht/Muchalaht First Nation, aided by the BC and federal governments, signals a shift in Indigenous-led conservation across the province

Backed by a $15.2-million commitment from the federal government, a First Nations community on the west coast of Vancouver Island intends to buy out forestry tenures to stop old-growth logging in selected watersheds around Nootka Sound.

The Mowachaht/Muchalaht First Nation has declared a string of “salmon parks” in its traditional territories that includes more than 66,000 hectares of watersheds.

The parks are designed to protect critical salmon habitat by maintaining and restoring the land where it intersects with marine ecosystems. Logging can damage the rivers where salmon spawn, and deforestation has been tied to warmer rivers that reduce survival rates for young fish.

Proposed salmon parks on Vancouver and Nootka islands
Red: Proposed salmon parks
Green: Mowachaht/Muchalaht First Nation territory
Yellow: Nuchatlaht First Nation territory

A map of the proposed salmon park and First Nations' boundaries

MURAT YÜKSELIR / THE GLOBE AND MAIL SOURCE: BC GOVERNMENT; HA-SHILTH-SA OPENSTREETMAP

The salmon parks of Nootka Sound offer an example of a shift that is coming across the province as a result of the new $1-billion Nature Agreement signed on Nov. 3 between Canada, BC and the First Nations Leadership Council. Significantly more land will be designated for conservation, which in turn will change how and where the province exploits its natural resources.

To meet commitments by the federal and provincial governments, BC will need to set aside more than 10 million hectares of new biologically important areas for protection from development over the next six years. Much of that will be achieved through Indigenous-led conservation projects that are now on a fast track for approval. This includes the Mowachaht/Muchalaht First Nation plan, which will require additional funding to complete.

British Columbia has the greatest diversity of species, ecosystems and habitats of any jurisdiction in Canada, and both the federal and provincial governments have promised to protect 30 per cent of the country’s land and water by 2030.

The provincial government says there are currently 18.5 million hectares of protected and conserved areas, making up 19.6 per cent of BC’s total land.

A number of First Nations in BC have declared Indigenous Protected and Conserved Areas that will be among the first in the queue for consideration by the new tripartite committee, which will decide where the nature agreement funding will go. Federal Environment and Climate Change Minister Steven Guilbeault promised financing for the Mowachaht/Muchalaht salmon parks in late October, providing tacit approval of the First Nation’s IPCAs.

Five species of Pacific salmon run through the traditional territories of the Mowachaht/Muchalaht First Nation, but stocks are in decline. Eric Angel, the project manager for the salmon parks, said the selected areas include some of the last remaining old-growth forest ecosystems in the region.

“What we are bringing to this is a much more creative and nuanced view of what a sustainable economy looks like in rural communities. What we’ve been doing up till now has been liquidating a one-time resource, old-growth forests. What we need to do is find ways to harvest forest products,” he said, “while we also build economies around tourism and conservation and stewardship.”

Celina Starnes from Endangered Ecosystems Alliance looks up at the big-leaf maple grove of the Burman River valley, which lies within the Mowachaht/Muchalaht salmon-park system.

Celina Starnes from Endangered Ecosystems Alliance looks up at the big-leaf maple grove of the Burman River valley, which lies within the Mowachaht/Muchalaht salmon-park system.
TJ WATT

The village of Gold River, located in the heart of Mowachaht/Muchalaht territory, was built as a forestry community, but the last mill closed in 1999. The salmon-parks strategy will balance economic development with ecology, Mr. Angel said, and some of the funds will help develop those plans. By clearly identifying which lands must be protected, industry will better understand where resource extraction will be allowed, and what kind of activities would be welcomed.

The salmon park is home to black bears like this one near Tahsis.

Based on studies by biologists, the First Nation has determined that 90 per cent of salmon productivity in the region can be protected by setting aside 20 per cent of the watersheds – especially those where glacier-fed rivers offer the greatest climate resiliency.

The provincial government, which awards forestry tenures, has not yet weighed in on the salmon parks. However, Nathan Cullen, BC’s Minister for Land, Water and Resource Stewardship, said that his government needs to endorse IPCAs to reach its conservation targets. “Getting there would be absolutely impossible without willing First Nations partners.”

He believes IPCAs also hold the key to ensuring that this transition can be done without cratering the province’s resource-based economy. Conservation decisions will bring certainty to land that has long been mired in conflict because of unresolved Indigenous claims. First Nations communities have told him, he said, that they will be more open to extraction industries after the areas they have identified for conservation are protected. “The whole point of land-use planning is to lessen the conflict, lessen the legal challenges and increase certainty for investors while protecting more of the province.”

But that process can be expensive. The largest cost associated with the Mowachaht/Muchalaht IPCAs will be the purchase of logging tenures from industry. To implement the plan, the First Nation expects it will need to raise as much as $50-million. “It will cost money because the companies will not just say, ‘Okay, yeah, take our tenure and make a reserve.’ So everyone will need to be compensated,” said Azar Kamran, chief executive officer and administrator for the First Nation.

Western Forest Products, one of those tenure holders in Nootka Sound, is aware of the salmon-parks plan, said Babita Khunkhun, a spokesperson for the company. “While we have not had specific discussions with the Nation since the recent announcement, we work to understand and incorporate the interests of Indigenous communities through open communication and that ongoing commitment will serve to guide us going forward.”

‘We’ve been clear for a number of years now that protecting our old-growth forests is one of our priorities,’ Ms. Dabrusin says.
CHAD HIPOLITO/THE GLOBE AND MAIL

Ottawa has agreed to invest up to $500-million across all projects over the life of the tripartite agreement, with matching funding to come from the province. Philanthropic organizations are also expected to contribute. It took two years to negotiate and now it could take another year to set up the committee.

Julie Dabrusin, parliamentary secretary to Mr. Guilbeault, was one of the brokers. On a recent visit to BC, she visited an old-growth forest where 500-year-old Douglas firs rival the height of the concrete towers of her home riding of Toronto-Danforth.

The trees in Francis/King Regional Park, near Victoria, are already protected, but she said seeing them was a good reminder of the purpose of her assignment, which was to help secure an agreement that would allow the federal Liberal government to achieve its “30 by 30″ commitment.

She acknowledged concerns that BC’s old-growth forests are being logged while the process unfolds. “I think that there is always an urgency to get beyond talking. We’ve been clear for a number of years now that protecting our old-growth forests is one of our priorities.”

Leading Ms. Dabrusin’s old-growth tour was Ken Wu, who heads the Endangered Ecosystems Alliance and has spent decades campaigning for protected areas. Meeting Canada’s conservation targets will be “a monumental undertaking,” he said, but with $1-billion or more, and a framework that puts First Nations in the driver’s seat, the past month has given environmentalists something to celebrate.

“In the coming months and years we’re going to see – I’m certain of it – the biggest protected areas expansion in Canadian history within a province.”

See the original article on the new Salmon Park IPCA here. 

The Guardian: “The nature cure: how time outdoors transforms our memory, imagination and logic”

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November 27, 2023
The Guardian
By Sam Pyrah

See the original article.

Without engaging with natural environments, our brains cease to work well. As the new field of environmental neuroscience proves, exposure to nature isn’t a luxury – it’s a necessity

It’s a grey November day; rain gently pocks the surface of the tidal pools. There is not much to see in this East Sussex nature reserve – a few gulls, a little grebe, a solitary wader on the shore – but already my breathing has slowed to the rhythm of the water lapping the shingle, my shoulders have dropped and I feel imbued with a sense of calm.

I’m far from alone in finding the antidote to modern life in nature. “It’s only when I’m outdoors and attentive to the wild things around me that my mind holds still,” says James Gilbert, an ecologist from Northamptonshire. Despite his job, it is not visits to nature reserves boasting rare species that provide what he describes as a “mental reset” – “simply the everyday encounters I chance upon in my daily life. These touches of wildness freshen my mind, broaden my perspective and lift my spirits.”

Such testimonies to the power of nature are nothing new. What is new is the emerging field of environmental neuroscience, which seeks to explore why – and how – our brains are so profoundly affected by being in nature.

You are probably aware of studies showing that green (vegetated) and blue (moving water) environments are associated with a reduction in stress, improved mood, more positive emotions and decreases in anxiety and rumination. But there is growing evidence that nature exposure also benefits cognitive function – all the processes involved in gaining knowledge and understanding, including perception, memory, reasoning, judgment, imagination and problem-solving. One study found that after just 40 seconds of looking out at a green roof, subjects made fewer mistakes in a test than when they looked at a concrete one.

Dr Marc Berman, director of the Environmental Neuroscience Laboratory at the University of Chicago, taxed subjects’ brains with a test known as the backwards digit-span task, requiring them to repeat back sequences of numbers in reverse order. Then he sent them for a 50-minute walk, in either an urban setting (a town centre) or a nature setting (a park). On their return, they repeated the task. “Performance improved by about 20% when participants had walked in nature, but not when they had walked in an urban environment,” he says.

The brain boost from being in nature goes beyond getting answers right in a test, according to Prof Kathryn Williams, an environmental psychologist at the University of Melbourne. “Research has consistently demonstrated enhanced creativity after immersion in natural environments,” she says. One study found that a four-day hike (with no access to phones or other technology) increased participants’ creativity by 50%. (If you’re wondering how you can put a number on creativity, that study used the Remote Associates Test, widely used as a measure of creative thinking, insight and problem-solving. Subjects are given three words and have to come up with a word that links them. For example, Big, Cottage, Cake = Cheese.)

What might be going on here? According to the biophilia hypothesis popularised by the American sociobiologist EO Wilson, humans function better in natural environments because our brains and bodies evolved in, and with, nature. “Biophilia makes a lot of sense,” says Dr David Strayer, a cognitive neuroscientist who heads the Applied Cognition Laboratory at the University of Utah. “As hunter-gatherers, those who were most attuned to the natural environment were the most likely to survive. But then we built all this infrastructure. We are trying to use the hunter-gatherer brain to live in the highly stressful and demanding modern world.”

It’s not that life as a hunter-gatherer was easy, of course. But, says Strayer, the fight-or-flight response that we evolved to deal with it is ill-suited to the way we live now. “Most of the stress we encounter today does not require a physical response, but still evokes the same physiological reaction – raised cortisol levels, increased heart rate and alertness – which can impact immune and cardiovascular function, as well as memory, mood and attention.”

Exposure to nature activates the parasympathetic nervous system – the branch of the nervous system related to a “resting” state. This instils feelings of calm and wellbeing that enable us to think more clearly and positively, just as I experienced on my harbourside walk.

One recent theory proposes that oxytocin (the “bonding” hormone) may be behind the phenomenon, exerting its powerful antistress and restorative effects when we are in natural settings that we perceive as safe, pleasing, calm and familiar.

But if its capacity to make us “feel better” were the sole pathway through which nature affected the brain, it would only work if you regard being in nature as a positive experience. Those siding with Woody Allen when he said “I love nature; I just don’t want to get any of it on me” would not experience a brain boost. However, research by Berman and others suggests that improvements in cognitive function are not linked to improved mood.

Berman got his subjects to walk at different times of the year. “Even in January, when it was zero degrees outside and people didn’t enjoy the nature walk, they still experienced performance improvements in the test,” he says. “They didn’t need to ‘like’ the nature exposure to reap the cognitive benefits.”

Another explanation for the nature boost is something known as attention restoration theory (ART). Psychologists call the capacity to sustain focus on a specific mental task, ignoring external distractions (such as your phone) and internal ones (such as your rumbling belly), “directed attention”. And according to ART, it is a finite resource.

“The areas of the brain responsible for this kind of attention can become depleted by multitasking and high-stimulation modern environments,” explains Williams. When that happens, we can’t concentrate, we make mistakes and get stuck on problems. “But there is something about nature that engages the brain in a way that’s very undemanding and effortless, giving these areas an opportunity to rest and recover.”

It’s not that natural settings don’t have lots of stimuli, but the attention they capture is indirect and spontaneous – we are drawn by the movement of a bird or the sound of our feet padding on fallen leaves. This gentle attendance to our surroundings is known as “soft fascination”, and while we are immersed in it, directed attention can be restored. Maybe that’s why I often find myself recording voice notes, or tapping ideas into my phone, after spending time in nature.

Excitingly, neuroimaging tools such as electroencephalograms and functional magnetic resonance imaging are helping researchers to glimpse the changes in our brains in real time. Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), for example, uses something known as Bold – blood-oxygen-level-dependent imaging – to determine which areas of the brain are most active during exposure to different stimuli. (Like muscles, the more active parts require more oxygenated blood.) Studies have revealed a drop in the Bold signal in the prefrontal cortex (an important brain structure in executive function) during nature exposure, supporting the idea that this part of the brain is “off duty” at the time. It has also been shown that a greater number of brain areas are activated when viewing urban scenes, suggesting more effort is required to process them.

The drawback with fMRI is that it requires you to lie still, ruling out real-life nature experiences – which is why Berman is excited about his newest tool, functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS). “We have some idea of what the brain looks like when it is working hard,” he says. “But fNIRS enables us to shine infrared light into the brain of a person as they walk through different environments to see whether it is working harder or easier.”

“We’re not trying to create a nature pill,” Berman insists, pointing to research that shows exposure to “real-world” nature yields greater improvements in mood and aspects of cognitive performance. “We are looking at why we build things the way that we do. Now, it’s all about efficiency. But we could be thinking instead about creating a built environment that elicits the best attention, high levels of wellbeing, cooperation – we could be putting natural elements into streets, offices, schools, homes. And don’t forget that not everybody has access to nature.”

Regardless of access issues, most of us spend very little time in nature. A government survey last year found that a quarter of people hadn’t visited a green or natural space once in the previous 14 days. And yet, as the BMJ reported in 2021, greater contact with nature is associated with better cognition, working memory, spatial memory attention, visual attention, reasoning, fluency, intelligence and childhood intellectual development.

“This growing body of research is demonstrating that we can’t be healthy – that our brains do not work optimally – if we don’t spend time in natural environments,” says Berman. “It’s not a luxury – it’s a necessity.”

How to make the most of nature
Aim for at least 30 minutes. According to cognitive neuroscientist David Strayer, this is the duration needed for measurable benefits to accrue. Longer-term experiences (Strayer talks of the “three-day effect”) have additional benefits.

Forgo the tech. “If you’re focusing on your watch or phone, or wearing headphones, you aren’t engaging with your environment,” says Strayer.

Get your timing right. One study found that the boost to cognition lasted 30 minutes after leaving the natural setting, which may help you plan the best time for mentally demanding work.

Choose your venue. Not all natural environments are equal. “You want to be somewhere pleasant and engaging,” says Prof Kathryn Williams, an environmental psychologist at the University of Melbourne. “A sense of safety is paramount to positive experiences in nature, including attention restoration, stress reduction and mind wandering. A feeling of ‘being away’ – a sense of psychological distance from the things that burden you – is also important.”

Endangered Ecosystems Alliance executive director, Ken Wu, stands in a blue jacket amongst the spectacular yet unprotected ancient forests of the Mossome Grove near Port Renfrew in Pacheedaht territory.

WATCH: BC forest plan draft hailed by conservationists

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November 23, 2023
Global News BC
By Paul Johnson

See this video interview with Endangered Ecosystems Alliance’s Ken Wu, discussing the BC government’s recent “unprecedented leaps forward” over the past month with its release of the draft Biodiversity and Ecosystem Health Framework in tandem with the BC Nature Agreement.

Watch the video here.

It’s being described as a “game changer” in efforts to protect BC’s old-growth forests. As Paul Johnson reports, conservationists are welcoming a draft plan from the provincial government that would not only consider the economic but also the ecological value of our forests.

A lightened photo of a snowy old-growth forest with the words "Giving Tuesday" overlaid.

Support ancient forests this Giving Tuesday!

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Year after year, we’re so grateful to our community of supporters who choose to donate to the Ancient Forest Alliance (AFA). Giving Tuesday (a global day where people give, collaborate, and celebrate generosity) is just a week away on November 28th. Consider supporting old-growth forest protection as part of our Giving Tuesday campaign, running from Tuesday, November 21 until Friday, December 1, 2023!

Will you help us reach our goal of $20,000?

Yes! I’ll donate!

Because of YOUR support, we’ve seen more significant shifts over the past couple of months than we’ve seen in years toward the protection of old-growth forests in BC. Many of our asks have been answered and much of the funding we’ve been calling for has arrived!

More than $1 billion in provincial-federal funding has been allocated to help achieve BC’s 30% by 2030 nature protection, conservation, and restoration goals with the launch of the BC Nature Agreement. Securing large-scale conservation financing has been a central focus of our organization for many years now and we’re thrilled to see this arrive! Following on its heels, the BC government released its draft Biodiversity and Ecosystem Health Framework that, if done right, could ensure a major paradigm shift to safeguard the most endangered and least protected ecosystems, such as big-treed old-growth forests. Together, these have the potential to protect much of the incredible ancient forests we’ve been fighting for!

This huge progress has been made possible by people like you who’ve spoken up and supported our campaign efforts over the years, so THANK YOU!

With Giving Tuesday coming up in just one week on November 28th, here are two ways you can support AFA this year.

1. Give a monthly or one-time donation to the Ancient Forest Alliance

As a small charitable organization, our work is driven by donations from individuals like you. By making a monthly or one-time donation, you’ll help us carry out critical work including supporting First Nations partners in developing Indigenous Protected Area proposals that protect old-growth, exploring and documenting endangered forests, and building and strengthening relationships with non-traditional allies to create a broad-based movement of support for ancient forest protection. We acknowledge times are challenging for many right now, so any amount helps. Plus, all donations are now tax-deductible!

Give to ancient forests here!

2. Join us for our Year-End Celebration & Fundraiser!

This year we’ll be celebrating our successes on Giving Tuesday itself! We’d love to see you at Victoria Event Centre on Tuesday, November 28th from 6–9 pm for a fun-filled evening to celebrate a monumental year for the old-growth campaign.

This is a night for our supporters to get to know the AFA team, connect with other supporters, donors, and volunteers, and enjoy a presentation from AFA campaigner and photographer TJ Watt and researcher Ian Thomas.

There will be a silent auction with loads of fabulous items from local businesses such as Robinson’s Outdoors, Botanical Bliss, Patagonia, ecologyst, The Papery, Bolen Books, Barbara Brown Art, Seaflora Skincare, Jordan Fritz Art, and more. There will also be appies and refreshments, a cash bar, and AFA merchandise for sale, so don’t miss out! All funds raised go toward protecting the endangered old-growth forests in BC and ensuring a sustainable second-growth forest industry.

Thank you for spreading your generosity to ancient forests this Giving Tuesday. Together, we can give back to the ancient forests that give so much to us.

Save The Date! AFA’s Year-End Celebration & Fundraiser is Tuesday, November 28th

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Mark your calendars! We’re excited to announce that we’ll be hosting our Year-End Celebration and Fundraiser on Giving Tuesday this year. Join us at the Victoria Event Centre (1415 Broad St) on Tuesday, November 28th, 6–9 pm for a fun-filled evening to celebrate a monumental year for the old-growth campaign.

This is a night for our supporters to get to know the AFA team, connect with other supporters, donors, and volunteers, and enjoy a presentation from AFA campaigner & photographer TJ Watt and researcher Ian Thomas.

There will be a silent auction with loads of fabulous items from local businesses such as Robinson’s Outdoors, Botanical Bliss, Patagonia, ecologyst, The Papery, Bolen Books, Barbara Brown Art, Seaflora Skincare, and more. There will also be appies and refreshments, a cash bar, and AFA merchandise for sale, so don’t miss out!

All funds raised go toward protecting the endangered old-growth forests in BC and ensuring a sustainable second-growth forest industry.

Schedule:
5:45: Doors open, refreshments & socializing
6:30: Slideshow presentation by Campaigner & Photographer, TJ Watt and Research & Engagement Officer, Ian Thomas
7:45: Meet and greet, and fantastic silent auction fundraiser featuring select prints from TJ as well as an array of other amazing items from local businesses
8:45: Silent auction winners announced
9:00: Wrap up

Tickets:
Fixed price of $10 (not tax deductible). Available online (until NOON on November 28th), at the door, or call us at 250-896-4007. If there are any financial barriers to attending, please contact us at info@16.52.162.165 or call 250-896-4007. Tax-deductible donations can be added to cart at checkout!

Save the date in your calendars and scoop up your tickets today!

Accessibility:
The Victoria Event Centre currently does have an operational elevator or there is one long flight of stairs at the venue entrance. If you would like to attend the event but require assistance accessing the space, please contact us ahead of the event and/or text or call Joan at 250-213-1674 when you arrive and we will direct you.

We respectfully acknowledge that this event is taking place on the unceded territory of the lək̓ʷəŋən People, known today as the Esquimalt and Songhees Nations.

CBC Radio — “On The Island with Gregor Craigie”: Interview with Ken Wu

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November 16, 2023
CBC Radio: On the Island with Gregor Craigie

Listen to this stellar interview with Endangered Ecosystems Alliance’s Ken Wu, who speaks about the significance of the BC government’s recently released draft Biodiversity and Ecosystem Health Framework.

Listen to the full interview, or view the transcript below:

Gregor Craigie:
Another piece of the province’s plan to protect endangered old-growth forests was announced yesterday. The new draft Biodiversity and Ecosystem Health Framework follows last month’s creation of a $300 million fund to purchase and protect natural spaces as parks or protected areas.

BC Water, Land and Resource Stewardship Minister Nathan Cullen says the latest initiatives will help the province protect 30% of its land base by the year 2030. For more on the significance of the biodiversity framework, we’re joined by Ken Wu, Executive Director of the Endangered Ecosystems Alliance. Ken, good morning.

Ken Wu:
Thanks for having me on.

Gregor:
Thanks for joining us. First of all, what exactly is a Biodiversity and Ecosystem Health Framework? It’s a long title. And how is it a significant development for delivering the government’s promise to protect old growth?

Ken:
So this is a potentially revolutionary game-changer for conservation in Canada. Ff it comes out right, it will essentially target protection and conservation measures for the most endangered and least represented ecosystems in British Columbia. Ecosystem-based protection targets are what have been lacking not only in British Columbia but across most of the world. So it’ll essentially save the big trees instead of primarily saving alpine and sub alpine areas with small trees or no trees, as it is typically being the history of protected areas in BC.

It’s a huge game changer if it comes out right when it’s finalized in a few months.

Gregor:
So if I hear you correctly, Ken, it sounds like it’s recognizing quality rather than just quantity. You’re not just counting old trees but looking at the the quality and the age and location, and so on, of them.

Ken:
That’s right. So basically, BC has got a target to protect 30% of its land area by 2030. But if you don’t have specificity for the diversity of ecosystems with protection targets for them, then what happens, what has always been happening, and which will continue to happen, if this doesn’t land right, is saving the areas with low to no timber values.

The dominant paradigm, the paradigm that is supposed to be shifted as a result of the government’s Old Growth Strategic Review panel. The dominant paradigm has basically been to minimize impacts on the available timber supply for the logging industry from any conservation measures.

This [framework] turns [the old paradigm] on its head. It basically says that first, you have to conserve and protect the diversity of ecosystems that also includes the the areas that have been most coveted by industry. If the government does this, it is really a huge game changer.

Gregor:
Ok. And how does this draft framework fit in potentially with last month’s announcement from the province of this $300 million for conservation financing for endangered ecosystems?

Ken:
So the combination of the province’s $300 million conservation financing announcement with 1.1 billion of the Federal Provincial Nature Agreement is basically the fuel; it powers up the expansion of the protected area system by supporting First Nations in their initiatives for Indigenous Protected and Conserved Areas (IPCA) (is a bit of a mouthful) as well as for land acquisition for a diversity of approaches to protect ecosystems.

It basically means not only are you going to expand protected areas but you’ll place them in the places, hopefully that are the most impacted by industry and the least represented in the existing protected areas system.

Gregor:
So it targets protection to where it really needs to go, and forgive me if it’s obvious Ken, but has the work of identifying where needs to be targeted first and, you know, prioritizing those targets — has that been done?

Ken:
It’s probably been done through the Technical Advisory Panel, that’s the government’s science panel that it struck up a couple of years ago to identify the most at-risk old growth, but that’s an old-growth focused panel.

We want to make sure the province doesn’t jettison its results because there are some in the bureaucracy that try to creep away from that. But there needs to be a bigger set of analysis that has to be done. [The government is] going to be appointing a Chief Biodiversity Officer who will then strike up science teams, Traditional Ecological Knowledge committees, and First Nations committees to then build targets to span the diversity of ecosystems.

Now, the issue is whether or not it will have a fine enough filter because if [the government] doesn’t target ecosystems, specifically enough there, then you still have the loopholes where you can basically save the bogs instead of the big trees where you can still save the high elevations and the low elevation. So it’s got to be fine filter enough to capture all the ecosystems including forest productivity gradients, big trees versus medium trees versus small trees, depending on the soil and the climate. And it’s got to be large scale enough based on the latest science and conservation biology that says you’ve got to protect quite a lot of these landscapes, these ecosystems, to maintain all the species and the processes, predator-prey relationships, hydrological, watershed integrity.

Gregor:
All these type of things you mentioned — loopholes — are there examples whether it’s here on the island or elsewhere in the province where loopholes and arrangements like the Old Growth Management Areas have been exploited to allow for more logging of endangered trees?

Ken:
So this keeps coming up, right? So basically, there’s two basic sets of ways you can save or safeguard ecosystems. One of them are the legislated protected areas, the hard protected areas and they’re bigger typically. So that’s like provincial parks. Provincial conservancies is a newer designation that is congruent with First Nations’ subsistence uses, co-management, and rights and title. So those are the big [designations] that exclude logging, mining oil and gas.

Then you’ve got a whole forest reserve conservation reserve labyrinth, Old Growth Management Areas, Wildlife Habitat Areas, visual quality objectives, riparian management zones — all these different kinds of designations. Some of them are weak and tenuous old growth management areas.

You can take out pieces under industry, then lobby and log those. And it happens all the time, by the way, just like like it happens hundreds, probably thousands of times across the province. So it’s a common occurrence and we’ve dealt with it in the Port Renfrew area over the years.

Gregor:
And so the devil is clearly in the details, but if it does live up to its potential, what you hope is, is coming. What do you think it would mean for some of the more contentious old-growth logging areas, like the Fairy Creek situation?

Ken:
So basically, it has to be obviously stitched together with the conservation financing mechanism. These can’t be two parallel policies that are not connected, right?

So, that’s a key thing to make sure, is that basically all this money now to power the expansion of protected areas is guided by ecosystem-based targets to make sure the deployment of those funds is [allocated] to get the most endangered and least represented ecosystems, and that could result in the protection of Fairy Creek and other high-productivity and most at-risk old growth across BC.

But in the end, it’s really important, [and it’s something] that the environmental movement doesn’t seem to quite grasp, which is that the BC government can’t unilaterally just “save the old growth.” Because of successive court rulings, not only does it require First Nations’ consent, but First Nations’ shared decision making in any legislated land-use changes on their territories is required if you’re going to save old growth and endangered ecosystems. And so the protection moves at the speed of the local First Nations whose territory it is on.

The funding can facilitate that because many First Nations have a lack of capacity and also a dependency on old growth timber industry, jobs and revenues. The conservation financing can support alternative industries while at the same time paving the path for new Indigenous Protected and Conserved Areas. So all of it can work together.

We don’t have it yet, by the way, the Biodiversity and Ecosystem Framework is high level, it doesn’t have the legislation yet. It’s not official.

There’s a few more months yet of public input, but we are going to push hard because if we can combine the two: the funding to power protected areas  expansion and the ecosystem-based targets to save the most endangered areas, then we will have a world-class protected-areas system, and BC will lead the world in conservation policy there.

Gregor:
Are you optimistic at this point, Ken, that that will happen in the coming months?

Ken:
It always takes work, right? Premier Eby, I want to give him thanks, I want to give him crystal clear thanks that he’s moving things forward much quicker than any other previous premier has. And he’s a lot bolder, along with Steven Guilbeault, federally, the Environment Minister.

It is fueling the expansion of the protected areas system across Canada. And we will see, I’m certain, in the ensuing months and years, a massive unprecedented expansion of the protected areas system in BC. So I’m optimistic.

There’s going to be an election in the fall of 2024 and they will want to have this come out, I think, if they don’t want to bleed support to the Greens and this is something that I get a sense that Eby, personally, wants to make this happen.

Gregor:
Well, Ken, I appreciate you taking the time.

Ken:
It’s good to talk to you again.

Gregor:
Thanks very much.

Ken:
Hey, thanks for having me on again.

Gregor:
Ken Wu is executive director of the Ancient Forests Alliance. It’s 22 minutes after seven. This is “On The Island.”

‘Potential paradigm shift’: Activists are hopeful for BC’s new environmental protections

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November 15, 2023
Victoria Buzz
By Curtis Blandy

See the original article.

BC’s government is trying to implement further steps to protect and preserve the province’s at-risk environment through a new biodiversity and ecosystem health framework (BEHF).

Right now the BEHF is just a draft proposal, but Nathan Cullen, the Minister of Water, Land and Resource Stewardship, is hopeful that it will become legislation and allow for the preservation of BC’s well-known natural landscapes.

“People in BC share a deep connection to nature, from our ancient forests and diverse wildlife, to our coastal waters and mountain ranges,” said Cullen.

“Together, we are charting the next steps for conserving BC’s rich biodiversity and healthy ecosystems that support us all.”

Earlier this month the Province announced it was aiming to protect 30% of BC’s old-growth forests to align with and honour the commitments they made based on the recommendations from the Old Growth Strategic Review.

Although the BEHF is vague in its current stages, conservation activists are applauding the government’s steps towards preservation and protection of BC’s old-growth.

However, these groups warn that “the devil will be in the details.”

“If this framework results in science-based targets to protect the full diversity of ecosystems in BC, including factoring in ‘forest productivity distinctions’ to protect the classic old-growth stands that spawned the ‘War in the Woods,’ then it would up-end the traditional conservation model in BC and across much of the world which seeks to minimize impacts of conservation on industry,” said Ken Wu, Executive Director of the Endangered Ecosystems Alliance.

“In BC the dominant paradigm has long focused on minimizing the impacts of conservation on the available timber supply for logging, thus emphasizing the protection of alpine, subalpine, far north, and bog landscapes with low to no timber values.”

They say that it will take ecosystem-based targets for the BEHF to be effective.

“Without ecosystem-based targets, it’s like sending in a fire brigade to hose down the non-burning homes, while those on fire are largely ignored,” Wu added.

The Endangered Ecosystems Alliance and the Ancient Forest Alliance both say they would like to see the government approach this endeavour with integrity and adequate funding.

See the original article here.

Roosevelt Elk

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Autumn is the season of romance for the magnificent Roosevelt elk of the coastal rainforest. Males “bugle” for females, and, wielding their massive antlers (which can host six or more pointed tines branching out from the main beam), contend with each other for access to mates. The Roosevelt elk is Vancouver Island’s largest and most charismatic land mammal, weighing up to 1100 lbs/500 kg! Both sexes of elk are easily distinguishable from other ungulates by a thick dark brown mane on their head and neck and beige body and rump. These large mammals are an important food source for wolves, cougars, and many First Nations people.

, Roosevelt elk spend winters browsing for woody plants such as devil’s club and elderberry along the banks of rivers in rich, valley-bottom forests. With their abundant shrubs and huge trees that block out the falling snow, old-growth forests provide Roosevelt elk with critical habitat, especially in the harsh winter months.

It is fitting that Vancouver Island’s largest land animal is drawn to the habitats that produce BC’s biggest trees: the nutrient-rich floodplains of coastal rivers. The sight of a herd of elk browsing in an old-growth riparian forest full of towering Sitka spruce and ancient moss-draped maples is the pinnacle of rainforest beauty and majesty: charismatic megafauna combined with charismatic megaflora!

With only around 3,000 Roosevelt elk on the island, they are considered a species of special concern by the province. The number one constraint on their population is the destruction of their old-growth wintering habitat, making the protection of our richest-valley bottom ancient forests an essential step in ensuring these magnificent creatures continue to roam our forests for generations to come.

 

Endangered Ecosystems Alliance executive director, Ken Wu, stands in a blue jacket amongst the spectacular yet unprotected ancient forests of the Mossome Grove near Port Renfrew in Pacheedaht territory.

BC Opens the Door for a Potential Paradigm Shift in Conservation

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For Immediate Release
November 15, 2023

BC Opens the Door for a Potential Paradigm Shift in Conservation: Prioritizing Saving the Most Endangered Ecosystems via Ecosystem-Based Targets.

If done right, conservationists say the Biodiversity and Ecosystem Health Framework (BEHF) could ensure a major paradigm shift to safeguard the most endangered and least protected ecosystems, such as big-treed old-growth forests (“high productivity” old-growth forests with the classic forest giants) and diverse valley bottom and low elevation ecosystems — rather than the status quo of primarily protecting areas of low timber values. Conservationists commend the vision in the draft framework for being a potentially revolutionary game-changer in conservation, but the devil will be in the details when the framework is completed in the spring.

The Endangered Ecosystems Alliance (EEA) and Ancient Forest Alliance (AFA) are commending the BC government for developing a draft policy framework that intends to guide all new protection, conservation, and land-use activities in BC to ensure ecosystem integrity.

“We commend Premier David Eby and Minister Nathan Cullen for launching this potentially revolutionary game-changer in conservation, falling on the heels of their $1 billion-plus funding agreements to expand protected areas, announced earlier this month,” stated Ken Wu, Endangered Ecosystems Alliance executive director. “If this framework results in science-based targets to protect the full diversity of ecosystems in BC, including factoring in ‘forest productivity distinctions’ to protect the classic old-growth stands that spawned the ‘War in the Woods’, then it would up-end the traditional conservation model in BC and across much of the world which seeks to minimize impacts of conservation on industry. In BC, the dominant paradigm has long focused on minimizing the impacts of conservation on the available timber supply for logging, thus emphasizing the protection of alpine, subalpine, far north, and bog landscapes with low to no timber values. Ecosystem-based targets mean that you aim protected areas establishment towards the most endangered and least protected ecosystems. Without ecosystem-based targets, it’s like sending in a fire brigade to hose down the non-burning homes, while those on fire are largely ignored. Or a surgeon who makes no distinction between organs, and simply has a target in kilograms to remove. While much greater specificity is still needed as the BEHF moves toward policy and legislation, so far the province is largely signaling the right approach — and British Columbians will need to keep speaking up to make sure this policy lands right and is not a squandered opportunity.”

In BC, typically the ecosystems least coveted by industry are the most protected, in particular those with low to no timber values, such as alpine, subalpine, far north, and bog landscapes. These are native ecosystems that deserve protection. However, to immediately tackle the urgent extinction and climate crises, a far greater emphasis needs to be placed on saving those ecosystems most at risk and coveted for development by resource industries (particularly logging in BC). These at-risk ecosystems (with the big, valuable timber) tend to be more concentrated at lower elevations in southern BC.

“This document represents a potentially profound and necessary change in BC’s approach to nature conservation,” stated TJ Watt, campaigner and photographer with the Ancient Forest Alliance. “For over a century in BC, the government has prioritized industrial extraction at the expense of ecosystems. Finally, we are seeing that focus change. This transformation cannot come soon enough as many of our richest and most biodiverse ecosystems have been pushed right to the brink. The framework, however, must adhere to the centrality of legislated protected areas as foundational to prioritizing ecosystem-based health. Overemphasis on developing ever more stringent methods to practice industrial extraction in threatened ecosystems instead of identifying the areas most in need of full protection will continue to see the erosion of BC’s irreplaceable ecosystems. As this framework is further defined, we will need to see ecosystem protection targets focussed on the most biodiverse and threatened ecosystems such as productive old-growth forests. Without ecosystem-based protection targets to safeguard areas from industrial extraction, we will continue to see these ecosystems further chipped away at and degraded.”

A man in a red jacket stands beside an enormous old-growth Sitka spruce among a sea of green ferns and other old-growth fauna growing unprotected west of Lake Cowichan in Ditidaht territory.

Ancient Forest Alliance photographer & campaigner, TJ Watt, beside an enormous old-growth Sitka spruce growing unprotected west of Lake Cowichan in Ditidaht territory.

Key tenets of this agreement include a commitment to the creation of a “Provincial Biodiversity Officer” who would have responsibility for implementing the intentions of the framework, the development of updated guidance for the management of specific ecosystems, the acknowledgment of the need for protection of the most threatened ecosystems, and the acknowledgment of the need to maintain the natural range of variation in native ecosystems. Each of these represents key policy commitments that the EEA and AFA have advocated for and are critical tenets of ensuring a true paradigm shift in the management and protection of ecosystems in BC, particularly if targets include forest productivity distinctions (likely the largest uphill battle at this point). Despite these extremely positive signals, conservationists are cautioning that this framework must also recognize the critical role of legislated protected areas for at-risk ecosystems, not merely updated standards for exploitation.

To be an effective framework, the Biodiversity and Ecosystem Health Framework (BEHF) must include the following components:

  1. Ecosystem-based protection targets that are legally binding and “fine filter” enough (including Biogeoclimatic subzones and variants, plant communities, seral stages of old-growth within their natural range of variability, and forest productivity distinctions) and that ensure sufficient scale of protection to support the long-term persistence of these ecosystems, based on the latest insights from conservation biology and landscape ecology from designated independent science teams, and from Traditional Ecological Knowledge committees of First Nations.
  2. It must emphasize protected areas and uphold protected areas integrity; that is, the standards and permanency of protected areas to exclude commercial logging, mining, and oil and gas activities, and without moveable boundaries. There are concerns that the province is emphasizing weaker conservation reserves, such as Old-Growth Management Areas (OGMAs) (where boundaries can be moved under timber industry lobby efforts) and Wildlife Habitat Areas (WHAs) (where logging in some areas can occur), rather than the stronger protected areas, like Provincial Conservancies and various PA (Protected Area) designations. In contrast, these stronger protected areas are permanent and exclude commercial logging, mining, and oil and gas development, all while protecting First Nations subsistence rights, co-management authority and rights and title. OGMA and WHA loopholes must be closed, as they are vital parts of the conservation reserve system to pick up the pieces of remaining old-growth and vital habitat. There are also concerns that the province is developing a new protected area designation that will have flexitarian minimum standards that still allow for commercial logging. Our organizations strongly advocate against these minimum standards that are easily shapable.
  3. The BEHF when completed in a few months must guide the deployment of funds from the BC Nature Agreement and BC Conservation Financing Mechanism to ensure protection is most heavily funded for the most at-risk and least protected ecosystems. It must also guide the Forest Landscape Planning tables, where conservation reserves (eg. OGMAs, WHAs, Visual Quality Objectives, Riparian Management Areas, etc.), forestry and resource use activities with First Nations, the province, and stakeholders.

“The province under Premier David Eby’s leadership and the federal government has provided half of the equation to protect ecosystems on a major scale in BC — the major funding to fuel protected areas expansion by supporting First Nations conservation initiatives. We have just heard from First Nations we’re working with to establish Indigenous Protected and Conserved Areas (IPCAs) that those funds are already being committed to move their old-growth protected areas initiatives along, which is excellent. Now the other vital half of the equation: to aim protected areas establishment towards the most endangered ecosystems. Premier Eby and Minister Cullen, with their new draft BEHF, are signaling that the province may very well be headed there. To make it simple, this whole thing must scale up the protection of the most endangered and least represented ecosystems in BC. If it doesn’t do that, it’s a flop. Let’s see where this goes and keep speaking up to make it happen,” stated Wu.

See a new EEA video series from a week ago on the status of BC old-growth and protected areas policies here.